It's imperative today to build a pathway to agility in your enterprise, but how do you accomplish that? You can't be agile if you don't have control, says Dave Brooks, senior director, strategic business solutions, Software AG. And control comes with end-to-end visibility, not only in your company but in all levels of operations at each of your partners.
The notion that companies are having no trouble finding supply chain talent is "a misperception in the marketplace," says Jason Breault, managing director of LifeWork Search. Media reports of high unemployment levels don't take fully into account the white-collar sector, where more than a million jobs have been added. Unemployment in that area is down to 4 percent, which isn't far from the 2-percent figure that is considered full employment, Breault says.
Order picking is indisputably the most labor intensive job in the warehouse, says Brian Keiger, global IT sales leader-logistics, KUKA Systems. But with SKU proliferation and the retirement of baby boomers, there will be more and more automation.
New, relatively inexpensive technologies can help you redeploy labor, cut costs, and remain flexible and performance-minded, says Frank Devlin, manager, advanced technologies, at The Raymond Corporation, a forklift manufacturer.
Is the term "demand responsiveness" a true call to action on the part of manufacturers, or is it just another buzz phrase? Rakesh Sharma, president and founder of Zyom Inc., believes it can have real value. He defines the term as an approach whereby companies with physical products work closely with an "ecosystem" of partners on the sales side, communicating through multi-tiered channels. Finding out in a timely fashion what has changed in those channels is no simple task anymore, given the expanding network of partners in outsourced relationships.
Crossbeam, a provider of enterprise network security solutions, found it struggled with meeting same-day and next-day delivery requirements mandated in its service-level agreements, says Jim Curley, director, manufacturing & technical operations. It needed automated export compliance from a company with a global footprint, says John Miller, senior vice president, global business development, Flash Global Logistics.
Establishing a local command center, carefully defining and addressing such information requirements as product descriptions, then setting up efficient supply chain lanes are three critical factors to success in Brazil, says John Miller, senior vice president, global business development, Flash Global Logistics. Moreover, the same formula often can be applied throughout Latin America.
Gas and electric utilities may have a number of unique operating characteristics, but they share with other industries the need to emphasize customer service, operate safely, create a reliable supply chain and reward shareholders. PG&E's pursuit of those goals led it to integrate formal sales and operations planning (S&OP) into the organization.
Misalignments in the many linkages of the supply chain lead to variability in delivery performance or in demand, says Dale Houle, chief technology officer at AGI-Goldratt Institute. The theory of constraints can help nullify the effects of that variability.
